Martins and traffic lights
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Steven Spencer
- Posts: 118
- Joined: Mon Apr 24, 2006 10:53 am
- Location: Jasper. Texas
Yesterday at noon I was driving home from work and saw a bird circling a traffic light in town ( I live in a small town ). Being the martin conscience person that I am I pulled over for a better look. Was it a martin? At first I thought it must be a barn swallow or starling, but the harder I looked it was not-- it was a subadult female martin. She would circle and try to light on the traffic light. This went on for about 10 minutes before she left. Was she intrigued be the "holes" on the lights? Surely she was not considering it a potential nesting site. Has anyone else witnessed anything like this before?
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Steve Kroenke
- Posts: 4342
- Joined: Fri Nov 28, 2003 6:49 pm
- Location: Louisiana/Logansport
Art,
Martins will occasionally nest in enclosed traffic light signals when other cavities are in short supply. I have seen them do so in the past. Several years ago, martins nested in traffic signal lights in Center, Texas. The nests were eventually removed I believe by the city maintenance department.
I have also seen martins nesting in holes in buildings, bridge openings, business signs, and under old style window AC units. I saw these way back in the 60s and early 70s.
Here is a link to an older posting of mine dealing with this subject; you may find it of interest:
http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=419
Steve
Martins will occasionally nest in enclosed traffic light signals when other cavities are in short supply. I have seen them do so in the past. Several years ago, martins nested in traffic signal lights in Center, Texas. The nests were eventually removed I believe by the city maintenance department.
I have also seen martins nesting in holes in buildings, bridge openings, business signs, and under old style window AC units. I saw these way back in the 60s and early 70s.
Here is a link to an older posting of mine dealing with this subject; you may find it of interest:
http://www.purplemartin.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=419
Steve
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loco for purple
- Posts: 187
- Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2005 7:06 pm
- Location: arlington/texas
Art
There were two street intersection in Dallas that for a few years had martins nesting in the street lights.The nest were in the street light, and you could see the mama sitting on the nest.There was only one pair per intersection,and they nested for several years until the city installed a different type of signal light.The city never bothered them while they nested,and you could still make out the light in the background.All this occured in the eighties,but I'm sure it still occurs today somewhere..
There were two street intersection in Dallas that for a few years had martins nesting in the street lights.The nest were in the street light, and you could see the mama sitting on the nest.There was only one pair per intersection,and they nested for several years until the city installed a different type of signal light.The city never bothered them while they nested,and you could still make out the light in the background.All this occured in the eighties,but I'm sure it still occurs today somewhere..
Traffic light reminds of of ravens. They would drop there hard shells claims or nuts in the cross walks and sit on the stop light poles till the light changed to walk. While the cars were stopped for people to walk across the street they would drop down and pick up the cracked food they dropped there to get smashed by the cars that ran over them.
Seen this on the animal channel. It was amazing and funny at the same time watching the crows watch the "Don't Wall. Walk lights, while making sure there hard shelled food was in a good spot to be cracked.
Another story in Europe is there fascination with hot coals from a fire (I guess it's their fascination with shinny things). They called them fire crows in the 17th and 18th centuries due to the fact that when they seen them fly out of a barn it sometimes burnt down. I guess they would pick up the hot coals and drop them while they were inside the barn. Smoking in bed maybe!?!
Seen this on the animal channel. It was amazing and funny at the same time watching the crows watch the "Don't Wall. Walk lights, while making sure there hard shelled food was in a good spot to be cracked.
Another story in Europe is there fascination with hot coals from a fire (I guess it's their fascination with shinny things). They called them fire crows in the 17th and 18th centuries due to the fact that when they seen them fly out of a barn it sometimes burnt down. I guess they would pick up the hot coals and drop them while they were inside the barn. Smoking in bed maybe!?!